Appeals court upholds block on immigration arrests at certain houses of worship
A federal appeals court sided with houses of worship from the Quaker, Sikh, and Cooperative Baptist Fellowship religious traditions.
August 18, 2026 / 12:25 PM EDT / CBS News
Washington — A federal appeals court on Tuesday continued to block a Department of Homeland Security policy allowing immigration officers to conduct enforcement actions at certain houses of worship for Quakers, Cooperative Baptists and Sikhs.
In a decision written by Judge Barbara Milano Keenan, the 4th Circuit panel ruled that the houses of worship showed that the Department of Homeland Security's policy substantially burdens the free exercise of their religion.
The new guidance, she wrote, "is having a chilling effect on their congregations and already has caused declines in attendance among members of [Cooperative Baptist Fellowship] and the Sikh Plaintiffs." That drop in attendance and the increased threat of immigration enforcement at the plaintiffs' houses of worship "already has imposed a substantial burden on the ability of all the plaintiffs to express their religion through communal worship," Keenan wrote.
She was joined by Judges G. Steven Agee and Pamela Harris. Keenan and Harris were appointed to the 4th Circuit by President Barack Obama, and Agee was named by President George W. Bush.